Hey everyone.
What's up?
Mike McClelland coming to you from BassResource.
This morning, we are gonna talk about some of, in my opinion, probably one of the most
versatile ways to catch bass across the country.
I mean when you start looking at, you know, just consistent ways that you can catch fish,
you know, a lot of things come to mind, Texas rigging and Carolina rigging and...but one
thing that I'm really excited about, and I mean, it's not a brand new thing, but it's
kinda new for myself and Gamakatsu is this new Gamakatsu Hybrid Swing Head.
I worked directly with Gamakatsu on this.
And you know, when you start talking about swing heads, I mean, you know, some people
might refer to them as wobble heads or hard heads.
I mean, essentially a swing head is a piece of lead that you tie...or tungsten, as these
hybrid swing heads are going to be made out of tungsten, you tie it directly to your line,
and then it's got a hook attached to it that swings freely.
The beauty of this little hybrid swing head is the fact that it's...actually, you can
change your hook.
You can just roll whatever size hook you want on and off of that swing head with the use
of that little pigtail.
So that's a big part of why this bait is so versatile because you can throw anything from
a little bitty, you know, 3-inch bait, all the way up to a great big, you know, creature
style bait, or a big worm or a number of different things.
And that's the reason, in my opinion, a swing head is so versatile is you can throw any
bait on it.
And when you start talking about throwing a swing head in the spring, I mean, anywhere
you fish as an angler...I mean, the springtime is definitely the time, in my opinion, that
these fish are moving the most.
They're feeding the most.
They've got a lot of things going on.
I mean, they're wanting to feed up, getting ready to spawn.
They've been cold throughout the winter and spring time to me, the hard head can really
be effective, especially on those days that you don't have good conditions.
I mean, you get a bright slick day like we've got here today and, you know, there's not
a lot of activity, the fish don't really seem to be moving, a swing head is one of those
baits that you can throw a multitude of different baits on and get it done.
One of the biggest things that I'm gonna look for in the springtime is those staging areas.
And when I talk about staging areas, I'm talking about places where those fish are first pulling
up out of the deeper water, you know, points, little channel bends in the actual creeks
themselves, I mean, a bluff end, a number of different things is going to be where I'm
gonna look.
The biggest thing that I always like to do though, is concentrate my efforts to where
there is deep water access really close.
It's amazing sometimes even in the pre-spawn period, the springtime of the year, how shallow
these fish will actually get when you get two or three days of a warming trend and the
sun's up, and, you know, these fish are feeding up or they're moving into those ambush points.
And that's a big key to it.
The beauty of the swing head, like I said earlier, is you can throw so many different
baits.
And when you look at the two swing heads I've got here, I mean, I've got a swing head that
goes from a 3/8, to a 1/2, to a 3/4, all the way up to a 1-ounce.
So when I'm fishing in the spring, 90% of the time, I'm probably gonna be throwing the
little 3/8 or a 1/2-ounce.
If I need to bulk my bait up with something like a Big Bite to a Kamikaze Craw, you know,
a 3.5, 4-inch bait, or a Big Bite Fighting Frog, I just can upsize the hook on that little
hybrid swing head and have everything in place that I need.
When you start talking about the equipment that I'm gonna throw this swing head on, I
generally, I'm gonna throw it on a medium heavy rod, something in the 7-foot to 7'4"
feet range, and I'm gonna match the line size according to, you know, the type of water
I'm fishing and the lake and the environment I'm fishing.
If I'm fishing a clearwater lake like Table Rock, where I'm fishing a lot of pea gravel
points, a lot of, you know, mixed rock and rock transitions and stuff like that, I'm
probably gonna throw, you know, 14 to 16-pound Sunline Sniper or Shooter.
If, you know, I'm fishing an area that you've got a lot more cover, you know, some brush
piles, standing timber, things of that nature, I'm probably gonna upsize a little bit and
get up to 16 to 20-pound Shooter or Sniper.
So, you know, those are the ways I'm gonna rig.
Generally, I'm always gonna throw a hard head on a relatively fast gear ratio, reel a 7:1,
8:1 type gear ratio reel, medium heavy rod.
And the big key for fishing a hard head in any season, but in the spring, I think especially
is you wanna keep this bait moving a lot.
I mean, this bait isn't necessarily designed to be fished like a jig where you throw it
out and you drag it and stop it and drag it and stop it.
I mean, not to say you can't, but the effectiveness of this hard head is throwing it out, hitting
the bottom and just maintaining just kind of a steady speed to keep this bait on the
bottom and moving.
That hook and bait is gonna dance around behind that hard...or that swing head.
So it's a perfect scenario for rigging about any type of plastic.
Another thing that I've done the last couple of years is even, you know, thrown Mag Finesse
worms and trick worms and things like that.
But in the springtime, I generally feel like, you know, the fish are feeding on either crawfish
or they're feeding on shad.
And there are times that if they're really, really locked on shad, I'll even rig a Big
Bite Pro Swimmer on a swing head.
So the bait that you can throw on a swing head are absolutely endless, and you really
need to look at it because to me, it is one of the most effective ways to catch fish throughout
the course of the spring in the pre-spawn season.